Bill Roberson/Digital TrendsThe PC market has been in decline for almost two years, but the latest figures released by the International Data Corporation suggest that this trend has been broken — at least in the United States.

　　The IDC report states that PC shipments grew by 4.9 percent over the past quarter, according to a report from Engadget. Fellow research firm Gartner has released similar findings that depict a 1.4 percent increase, with the discrepancy arising from the fact that the IDC doesn’t include tablets running Windows in its metric.

　　Recommended Videos

　　However, the picture isn’t quite so rosy on a global scale. The IDC found that worldwide PC shipments suffered a decline of 4.5 percent, whereas Gartner’s numbers indicate a drop of 5.2 percent. The one consolation is that the IDC actually expected a more significant decline of 7.4 percent.

　　There are a number of reasons why PC sales as a whole are on the downswing, but possibly chief among them is that many of us are turning to tablets and smartphones to complete tasks that would once have required a computer. However, it’s thought that enterprise and education purchasing has helped bolster sales in the United States.

　　That said, the domestic numbers being touted spell bad news for one major player. Apple has previously been able to resist the decline that PC sales have suffered over the past couple of years, but the latest IDC findings state that the company’s shipments are down 8.3 percent year-over-year, according to a report from 9to5Mac.

　　As such, Apple slips from its position as the fourth computer vendor worldwide in terms of units shipped, with Asus pulling ahead by the small margin of less than a hundred thousand systems. Competition is fierce, and this data demonstrates the changeable state of the industry.